Drop boxes and other item holding containers have historically been utilized as convenient mechanisms for holding a plurality of items destined for a common location (e.g., an intermediate shipping location, a single video rental store, and/or the like). These drop boxes are often embodied as closed boxes with lockable access panels accessible only by authorized personnel used to remove items from the interior of the drop box. The drop boxes also may include drop box trays that enable items (e.g., packages/parcels) to be placed within the drop box without enabling items to be withdrawn therethrough.
Traditional drop boxes have generally proven to be effective at compiling items for collection by a single entity (e.g., a single parcel carrier) by a plurality of disparate consignees while simultaneously preventing access to those items by unauthorized individuals. Retrieving items from these drop boxes is often a highly manual and time consuming process however, and therefore drop boxes are generally useful as time-saving mechanisms for the retrieving entity (e.g., carrier) only when a plurality of items may be retrieved from the drop box simultaneously. Unfortunately, entity personnel are required to approach and open many drop boxes in order to determine whether there are any items positioned therein. Thus, entity personnel are only able to determine whether the drop box provided any time-savings for the entity only after expending a non-negligible amount of time opening the drop box.
Thus, a need exists for mechanisms for monitoring the usage of item drop boxes without requiring substantial time-investments by entity personnel to retrieve items therefrom.